Trip 2

The following Monday night and Tuesday day saw a fresh fall of snow across Shropshire. We had enough to cover the Dendex at Madeley giving a brief period of floodlit, lift served night skiing which I took full advantage of.

With a Saturday trip back to South Shropshire arranged with some fellow Instructors from the slope, by Friday I was tempted to check out The Wrekin. A walk up a week or so previous had shown some hard packed cover at the top and with the extra snow it could be good for a few turns.

An early finish in the Office, packing the car with Dog, Skis and the usual stuff I arrived at the bottom at around 3pm with the light already fading.

Boot's on, Skins attached I made it as far as the dog leg below the cafe before deciding to bootpack the rest of the way, ski's on my pack. At about half way I came across some Snowboarders who reported enough snow for some turns at the top. Spurred, not least by the fading light I made to the top, grabbed some 'sunset' photo's and popped my ski's on.



The ski down at the dusk went as far as the tree line before the rocks called an end to the slide. I'm guessing it amounted to around 150m of vertical but all the better for being on my 'local' hill. An unsteady walk down a 'short cut' in ski boots followed.

Trip 1.

By the start of January 2010 Shropshire had been in the icy grip of Winter for weeks. Finally it had snowed and the temptation to see of Shropshire Skiing was possible was too much.

In the Summer I'd picked up a pair of touring bindings and set them up on a spare pair of twin tips. A pair of second hand 'skins' had been acquired and I was looking for an excuse to see if my ski tech skills were anything like. So I loaded up an inappropriate car with dog, ski's and the usual paraphernalia and set off.



I ended up crossing through Much Wenlock to Church Stretton with the idea of maybe skiing Hope Bowdler Hill. I ended up dropping in to Stretton and heading towards Carding Mill Valley, but on a whim kept going to look at Caer Caradoc and The Lawley now across the Valley.



The Lawley looked a good bet, so I picked up an OS map in town and found the path to walk up. I was in two minds whether to take the gear, but decided it was worth a punt.



There was decent coverage at the top, a bit crusty but enough for some sweet turns right down to the gate.



Caer Caradoc looked a tempting in the sun set, but it was too late for a hike up.